Bathurst 12 Hour entry list released

The official entry list for the 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour has been released.

Twenty GT cars and eight production cars are set to contest the February 4-6 event, with 12 different marques represented across five classes.

The Class A line-up is headed by the two previously announced Joest Audi R8 entries, one of which will have five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes at the wheel.

Ferrari 430s for Peter Edwards/John Bowe/Tim Leahey (Maranello Motorsport) and Hector Lester/Luke Searle/Allan Simonson (Rosso Verde Ireland) will also contend for victory.

Four Porsches have been entered in Class A, led by two-time defending Australian GT Champion David Wall, who will share his GT3 Cup S with father Des Wall and Tasmanian Greg Crick.

Dean Grant’s Mosler MT900 rounds out the Class A contenders.

A further six Porsches make up Class B, which includes a 997 GT3 Cup for Peter Boylan/Geoff Morgan/Rick Bates, plus two New Zealand entries from the Motorsport Services team.

Class C will have a variety of contenders, with BMW, Corvette, Lotus and Nissan all represented.

Paul Freestone’s Corvette will continue its Australian GT Championship battles with Tony Alford’s Nissan GTR, while the BMW M3 of Beric Lynton/Matthew Mackelden/John Modystach will join what is expected to be a highly competitive class.

Just one Mitubish Lancer Evo has been entered for Class D, after 11 of the cars contested last year’s production car-only event.

The Evo, entered by Alan East Motorsport, will compete against a single Subaru WRX STi and Peter O’Donnell’s BMW 335i – the reigning 12 Hour winner.

Five cars have entered Class E, with Paul Nelson and Bob Holden stepping up from a Toyota Yaris to a Ford Falcon XR8 for the event.

The Falcon will be pitted against three six-cylinder BMW 130is and Ryan McLeod’s four-cylinder HSV VX-R Turbo for the class victory.

While pleased with the number of GT entrants, Event Director James O’Brien said he was disappointed with the lack of interest from production car competitors.

“The number of GT cars entered has exceeded my expectations,” he said.

“There is great variety and depth amongst this grid – it looks to me like there will be plenty of cars fighting for the win and that’s what we want to see.

“We are especially looking forward to welcoming the five cars from overseas. We are very pleased to have international interest in the event and I’m sure this will grow in the future.

“Clearly the number of production car entries is disappointing, reflecting a combination of factors such as the general economy, increased competition from other production car endurance races, ineligibility of some vehicles and the fact some did not want to compete alongside GT cars.

“However we are really looking forward to seeing the mix of GT and Production vehicles going head to head in what should be an exciting and competitive Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour across the board.”

See below for the official entry list

Class A – GT3 Outright

No	Driver 1	Driver 2	Driver 3	Manufacturer	Model
2	Dean Grant	Max Twigg	Geoff Emery	Mosler	MT 900
7	Mark Eddy	Craig Lowndes	Warren Luff	Audi	R8 LH5 GT3
8	Darryl O’Young	Marc Basseng	Christopher Hies	Audi	R8 LH5 GT4
12	Marc Cini	David Reynolds	Dean Fiore	Porsche	GT3 Cup S
17	Peter Edwards	John Bowe	Tim Leahey	Ferrari	430 GT3
29	Tony Quinn	Klark Quinn	Craig Baird	Porsche	GT3 R
37	Hector Lester	Luke Searle	Allan Simonson	Ferrari	430 GT3
38	David Wall	Greg Crick	Des Wall	Porsche	GT3 Cup S
69	James Koundouris	Theo Koundouris	Steve Owen	Porsche	GT3 Cup S

Class B – GT3

6	Peter Boylan	Geoff Morgan	Rick Bates	Porsche	997 GT3 Cup
10	Andrew Waller	Cade Bell	Craig Willis	Porsche	997 GT3 Cup
39	Paul Tressider	Shane Smollen	Simon Middleton	Porsche	997 GT3 Cup
23	Roger Lago	Matthew Kingsley	David Russell	Porsche	997 GT3 Cup
66	Scott O’Donnell	Simon McLennan	Miro Kinopka	Porsche	996 GT3 Cup
67	Allan Dippie	Stephen Thompson	Mark Maddren	Porsche	996 GT3 Cup

Class C – GT4

25	Paul Freestone	Hayden Pullin	David Seiders	Corvette	206
44	Tony Alford	Peter Leemhuis	Mal Rose	Nissan	GTR R35
62	Adam Gowans	Richard Meins	Chris Lillington-Price	Lotus	Exige S
63	Rob Thomson	Jon Mills	TBA	Lotus	Exige S
80	Beric Lynton	Matthew Mackelden	John Modystach	BMW	M3

Class D – Production (High Performance)

3	Dean Herridge	John O’Dowd	Angus Kennard	Suburu	WRX STI
28	Peter O’Donnell	Matt Hansen	Christian D’Agostin	BMW	335i
43	Leigh Burges	Damien Flack	Neil McFadyen	Mitsubishi	EVO IX GSR

Class E – Production (Performance)

16	Paul Nelson	Bob Holden	TBA	Ford	XR8
26	Bruce Thomlinson	Geoff Fontaine	Richard Gartner	BMW	130i
50	Ryan McLeod	TBA	TBA	Holden	HSV VX-R Turbo
27	Allan Shephard	Garth Duffy	TBA	BMW	130i
68	David Glasson	Dennis Roderick	Aaron Harris	BMW	130i